Employee Relations and Policy Manager

Are you an experienced employee relations leader who can bring together complex casework, employment policy and trade union engagement to deliver a fair, consistent and trusted service?

We are looking for an Employee Relations and Policy Manager to lead TfGM's centre of excellence for employee relations, People policy and trade union engagement. This is a senior, hands-on leadership role combining oversight of complex and high-risk casework with policy governance, employment-law compliance, service improvement and the development of manager capability.

Your Role

Reporting to the Head of People Operations and Business Partnering, you will lead and develop a team of Senior People Advisors and People Advisors, setting clear standards for the quality, pace and consistency of employee relations casework. You will maintain oversight of the case portfolio and intervene directly in the most complex, sensitive or precedent-setting matters, including disciplinary, grievance, capability, attendance, dignity-at-work and whistleblowing. You will also own TfGM's People policy framework and review programme, build constructive relationships with recognised trade unions, improve case-management processes and use employee relations insight to identify organisational risks and priorities.

For more information, please see the Job Profile.

Who are we?

You will work across TfGM with senior leaders, managers, Strategic People Business Partners, People Shared Services, Legal Services and recognised trade unions. The role sits at the centre of our approach to fair and lawful people management, ensuring responsibilities and escalation routes are clear, managers are well equipped and learning from casework informs policy, leadership and organisational improvement.

What you'll bring

What you do and how you do it is important. At TfGM, our behaviours bring to life our values of Deliver, Care and Adapt.

You will bring significant senior-level experience in employee relations, employment policy or industrial relations within a large, complex and unionised organisation. You will have expert and current knowledge of UK employment law, ACAS guidance and equality obligations, with a strong track record of leading complex and high-risk cases, developing organisation-wide People policies and building effective trade union relationships. You will also be an experienced people leader who can set standards, manage competing priorities, analyse risk and provide clear, evidence-based advice to senior leaders. Chartered CIPD membership, or an equivalent recognised professional qualification, is essential.

What we can offer you

This is an opportunity to shape and lead TfGM's employee relations and policy service at an important time for the organisation. You will have the scope to strengthen governance, improve the experience of managers and colleagues, develop a specialist team and ensure our policies, processes and decisions remain fair, practical and legally sound.

Our benefits include

• Generous annual leave starting at 28 days (plus bank holidays), increasing with service, with options to buy more.

• Free travel on buses across Greater Manchester, plus rail or Metrolink travel for your commute, and access to our Electric Vehicle salary sacrifice scheme.

• Local Government defined pension scheme with life cover of 3x salary and options to boost your contributions.

• Enhanced family-friendly leave policies, including those supporting fertility treatment, alongside flexible and hybrid working and a special leave policy to support a range of unexpected events. Please note that qualification criteria may apply, including a requirement to have been employed with the organisation for a minimum specified period of time.

• Discover more benefits including wellbeing support, Personal and Career Development, Flexible working, financial support and more on our website

What's next?

Please submit your CV and cover letter demonstrating how your experience meets the essential requirements of the role. Please note if you do not upload a cover letter, you will not be shortlisted.

Our shortlisting process is anonymised, so please do not include your name or contact details on your CV. If any personal details are included these will be visible to the hiring manager.

Please note we may close the advert early if we receive a high volume of applications.

NOTE TO AGENCIES agency support for this vacancy is by prior agreement only. Candidates who apply directly through this vacancy will be treated as direct applicants and no agency fee will be payable if they are subsequently introduced or submitted by an agency.

TfGM is proud to be an equal opportunities employer that encourages and celebrates diversity. We want to recruit and retain a workforce that reflects the communities we serve and welcome individuals from all backgrounds by committing to providing a fully inclusive and accessible recruitment process. We will offer support and reasonable adjustments if required, and we also have a Guaranteed Assessment Scheme.

For this opportunity, you must be able to prove you have the right to work in the UK. Please note that TfGM is not a licensed sponsor.